The planet has ... 3 suns

Scientists have discovered a planet similar to Jupiter, but in a strange star system. This discovery challenged the theory of planet formation.

This solar system is called HD 188753, located in the constellation Cygnus. Together with the planet, they are 149 light years from Earth, and stand close to each other as if our sun is close to Saturn. If you stand on the planet's surface, you will see three " suns " on the head, although the center trajectory is around the biggest gold star.

In the traditional way of thinking, giant planets like Jupiter are often formed in a disk of gas and dense matter, located at least 3 astronomical units from their star, or 3 times the distance between the sun and the earth. At such a distance, there is enough space for solid materials to clump together, form nuclei, and thereby attract surrounding gases, forming a giant planet.

After these planets were born, they moved inward to create very close orbits such as the ones we see today.

But if the mother has a companion too close, their attraction will affect the formation of the planetary disc material around the central star. In the case of the triangular system HD 188753, the two accompanying stars will "eat off" the disk of material around the main star, to a radius of only 1.3 astronomical units, and leave no room for the planet born.

" How the planet can form in complex conditions is a very confusing thing ," said Dr. Maciej Konacki, from the California Institute of Technology. " I believe there are many things we do not know about the process of forming giant planets ."

This discovery could lead scientists to search for planets in new locations.

Posts by Tran Ngoc Tuan 9A / ĐK (VnExpress / ABConline, Discovery)
Email: tuancoi91@yahoo.com